E7 is Nokia’s new smartphone targeted to business users, the device is packed with some core business features supported by large display, full qwerty keyboard and more.  Here is our Nokia E7 review.

We have drafted this review post to publish with Symbian Anna update, but as you guys know that the update is rescheduled to be released in the last week of August 11 and we don’t have that much of time to hold on, so we skipped the software section.

The Nokia E7 is available in two colors: Dark Grey and Silver White. We got awesome Silver White E7 from WomWorld/Nokia.

But before we start, We like you guys to check our previous posts on E7 :

• Nokia E7 First Impressions
• Nokia E7 and N97 Mini Design Comparison

Nokia E7 belongs to Nokia’s E Series represents the core business range of Nokia products. It has same basic design language  as N8 with slider QWERTY just like the N97 but a bit bigger and better.

The anodised and sleek metal body gives premium touch to devices. E7 is packed with 8 MP  camera, full QWERTY, GPS, USB On-The-Go, 4” screen large screen, Multi Touch & HDMI connectivity.

E7 comes with non-replaceable 1200 mAh battery, giving Talk time of approx  - GSM 540 mins (9 h)/ WCDMA 300 mins (5 h) and Standby time upto GSM 430 h/ WCDMA 470 h. We have tested its battery in 3G with about 30 min of GPS navigation, a hour of  HD game play, about 20 photographs, 4 hrs of music playback with Gravity app for 3 hrs but after 9 hrs of heavy usage we need to recharge it. With this much feature and large screen we expected a better battery.

Nokia E7 has same core hardware as Nokia N8, so have the same core features including : processor, graphics co-processor and RAM are the same. Both shares same superb connectivity features: Pentaband Network, WiFi - B/G/N and next generation Bluetooth 3.0.

Let’s start with the Hardware:

• It  has ARM 11, 680 MHz CPU and 256 MB of RAM.

When today’s most of the smart-phones are coming with dual-core CPU  power E7′s 680 MHz CPU looks out dated, but if we look from business point of view this much of power appears sufficient for running business app. Overall E7 is really fast with absolutely no lagging, plus the upcoming Symbian Anna will surly boost up its performance.

• 2D/3D Graphics HW Accelerator with OpenVG1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0

Its a business smartphone, so why we need Graphics HW Accelerator. Well beside its a business phone its also a smartphone. Some time business man do need to play games and watch movies on the go.  The dedicated graphic acceleration enhance the  E7 capability, so you can enjoy your HD contents and games without any hiccups.

• It has large 4″ ClearBlack AMOLED touchscreen, protected with Gorilla Glass

The 4″ ClearBlack AMOLED touchscreen covered with Gorilla glass is very responsive , crisp & clear. That really adds something business person do require on the move – A better, bigger, visible screen for getting business done efficiently - definitely a key to success. ClearBlack display improves outdoor visibility and Gorilla glass gives scratch protection to the screen from day to day usage.

• 512 MB of system memory with 16 GB of mass memory.

With 512 MB of system disk space user will get about 370 MB free on device first start-up, where with 16 GB of mass memory user will get about 14.9 GB free space. now that’s enough for storing your documents and HD contents (Note: Some space is kept reserved for virtual memory or pagefile  ).

• Support two new wireless standards - WLAN ’N’ and Bluetooth 3.0

Like Nokia N8 – E7  also support WLAN b/g/n ( N in 2.4GHz ) & Bluetooth 3.0 . WLAN ‘N’ & Bluetooth 3.0  - both are new standards , gives improve network throughput over their previous standards.

• It has some inbuilt sensors – Accelerometer Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Magnetometer Sensor, and Proximity Sensor.

All same here as N8 and C7– Accelerometer Sensor used to detect motion, Ambient Light Sensor detect light, Magnetometer Sensor work as compass and Proximity Sensor used to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact.

• E7 has USB OTG or USB On-the-GO support.

This means that you can connect pendrives, small hardrives or even other phones which support mass storage mode via the microUSB-USB adapter to the E7 and copy or play the supported contents using the file manager. A useful feature for todays business man. +1 on that !

• QWERTY Keyboard

If you have used Nokia N97 mini, you will surly feel the improvement in this section. E7 designer have full utilized the space for keys- Keys are now arrange in 4 rows with some rearrangements – like space bar is now moved to center and the new key ‘@’ is added just left side it. Also keys backlit intensity is enhanced. A perfect tool for business man.

• It has TV output via HDMI mini C Connector and standard 3.5 mm AV connector, Supports Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 channel surround sound via HDMI on home theater.

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Like N8, the E7 also entertains you. You can watch HD movies experiencing true Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound on your home entertainment system using the HDMI port on E7, it also support Analog TV out through 3.5mm AV connector via Nokia CA 75U cable. ( Connecting CA 75U Cable not included in sales pack )

• It has Full focus 8 Megapixel camera with 3rd generation dual LED flash and Stereo audio recording through two microphones.

The Nokia E7, comes with 8 MP camera 2.8/4.3 optics lens with Face recognition software and HD video recording , Supported with 3rd generation dual LED flash.

Camera Features-

• Auto Exposure
• Dual-LED Flash
• Auto image orientation
• Exposure Compensation
• Face Detection
• Full Focus
• Full Screen Viewfinder
• Geotagging
• Red-Eye Reduction
• Self Timer
• Still Image Editor

E7 captures HD video at 720p and 25FPS, 3x digital zoom also works great.  It also have secondary VGA camera for video calls (VGA, 640 x 480 pixels). Like Nokia N8 & C7 ,E7 also uses Stereo audio recording in video mode using its two microphones – first one is situated just below the back cover release latch and the other one is in front side, one used for handling the regular voice calls.

Nokia E7 camera is similar to an ordinary 8 MP camera without autofocus. We don’t understand why Nokia jumped into megapixel race without autofocus for an E-Series business class device. Well, we all know a business person do need to scan documents and business card all the time. So we are giving BIG -1 to E7 on that!

Over all E7′s camera works well if you shot for large distances but as you move to take closer shots you will clearly see the difference. Flash don’t work for larger distance. The E7 camera is below our expectations and we think that a 5 MP camera with the autofocus feature would have been more appropriate here.

Check out some Image shot on E7, Please click on images to enlarge!

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The Software - Symbian^3 OS:

Anna is late and our E7 is still running the S^3 OS, which we have been already described in our previous review of Nokia N8. And there is no need for repetition, so just feel free to follow the below link to get the information on S^3-

http://www.symbiantweet.com/inside-nokia-n8-a-review

Preloaded Office Apps :

• Mail for Exchange
• Quickoffice dynamic premium
• Adobe PDF reader
• F-Secure Anti-Theft for Mobile
• Note: you have to download MicroSoft Communicator app separately from Ovi Store

E7 has unified email client for multiple protocols: Yahoo!® Mail, Gmail™, Windows Live™, Hotmail and other popular POP/IMAP services, Mail for Exchange. Push email and expanded portal support available through Nokia Messaging client.

Now let’s check the C7′s built!

Front :

In front it has beautiful large 4 inch capacitive crisp and clear CBD display. In the top we have the earpiece. From the top right covered by Gorilla Glass we have first – Proximity sensor, then  Ambient light sensor and in last secondary VGA camera for video calling. At bottom it has single centered menu key

Back :

At back we have beautifully engraved NOKIA logo, a 8MP  EDoF camera, supported with duel LED flash, a secondary mic and loud mono speaker.

Right :

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In right it has a dedicated one shot camera key, spring controlled volume rocker and SIM sliding slot.

Left:

In left there is a sliding screenlock key.

Top :

Here E7 has HDMI out port, micro USB post , Standard 3.5 mm AV connector with led indicator and power button.

Bottom :

At bottom E7 has its primary mic.

Slider Open Left:

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Slider Open Right:

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Slider Open Front:

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Slider Open Back:

Verdict:

Nokia tried very hard to keep everything within this device keeping the design (thickness) minimal. And yes, we can say that they succeeded. E7 belong to Nokia’s core business series of devices. It has all features a business smartphone needed- A pentaband connectivity, Wi-Fi (N) & Bluetooth (3.0) new standards, which promises to keep you connected always. Its large 4″ bright screen supported with better full qwerty keyboard enhance its business capability for mailing and document editing, Its TV out connectivity with HDMI and 3.5 mm AV connector gives you option for presenting your business efficiently. Every thing looks fine here except the 8 MP EDoF camera, in-fact we think 5 MP AF was good for E7. Nokia has selected the EDoF camera over AF, because it take less space then AF one, now this selection was necessary to keep the phone slim with minimal design.

This is not the end, we have lot more positive points over the camera thing- plus Nokia has tons of free business app for E7 over Ovi Store. So, if you are a business person who always remains on the move and need to be remain connected always, then E7 is built for you.

Nokia E7 is available in India for 28,019 Rs.

So guys, If you have any questions or you think we missed some good points about E7, we really like all of you to involve in comments!